How did they get text on film?

[Benjamindaines]

I've only been into film making and video editing since everything went digital, but I've always wondered how they got the text on film before there were computers. I know it's 2 pieces of film put together (one with the text and one with the footage) but how did they make the text on there? Anyone have any info on this?

//curiosity

 

[FF_productions]

I'm curious myself. I think they just layered a transparent piece of text "film" but I don't know how they did it.

 

[AstrayCliche]

They used a device known as an optical printer. Basically, they would project the text (photographed seperately) on top of a projection of the exisiting footage into a camera (or printer).

 

[HiRez]

To generate the initial text, normally it would just be typeset and printed on card stock, then photographed to create the "mask" layer. Old school.

 

[Alican]

It's also interesting how they did dissolves. One clue is when you look at a 1950s colour film, and see how the colour shifts at the start of the dissolve and shifts again at the end of it.